Tag: Jazz Rock

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Soft Machine – Thirteen – Album Review

*****

Soft Machine return with a new line-up, and their thirteenth studio album, sixty years since the band was formed.

The number thirteen is unlucky for some, but the latest version of Soft Machine obviously don’t think so. In some cultures, the number is considered a symbol of change, regeneration or growth. Thirteen is the title of the band’s thirteenth album. The record has thirteen tracks, the longest of which is thirteen minutes. The band was co-founded by Daevid Allen, who was born on 13 January and died on 13 March. And the record is due out on Friday 13 March (what could be luckier than that?)

The album marks another chapter in Soft Machine’s complicated history over the last six decades. The band was formed in 1966 by Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers and Daevid Allen. They were founder members of the Canterbury Scene, starting as a psychedelic band, and maintaining a regular residency at the UFO Club in London alongside the Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. Later, they became a progressive rock and jazz rock band. None of the founder members is still in the band; over the decades, the band has had over 30 members. The latest iteration of the band was formed in 2025, with John Etheridge on guitar (celebrating his 50th anniversary with the band!), long-standing member Theo Travis on sax, flute and keyboards, and new members Fred Thelonious Baker (bass) and Asaf Sirkis (drums).

Soft Machine luminary Robert Wyatt has endorsed Sirkis,

‘As far as I can see there’s nothing he can’t do when he puts his mind to it.. his kit skills just keep expanding but what really get to me are his ethereal, haunting compositions.’

Sirkis returns the compliment with Waltz for Robert, a haunting track that starts with gentle guitar chords and film noir flute that has the feel of Don’t Hate Me by Steven Wilson on which Theo Travis also plays. Travis’ flute playing becomes more florid, even as the guitar chords remain melancholy. Fred Thelonious Baker provides lovely fretless bass.

Sirkis also wrote the superb opening track Lemon Poem Song, with an atmospheric, gently aspirational chord sequence overlaid by John Etheridge’s filigree guitar work. Sirkis also shows what a stunningly virtuosic drummer he is, a worthy addition to the band.

The new version of the band has one song credited to all the band members, Pens to the Foal Mode, which was recorded live in the studio as a completely free group improvisation with no overdubs: all flute loops were recorded in real time. It’s a spacey track, with some dystopian guitar from John Etheridge. Seven Hours also starts with some free improvisation: this all bodes well for the band’s forthcoming tour which begins on 12 March.

Soft Machine in 2026: Asaf Sirkis, Theo Travis, John Etheridge and Fred Thelonious Baker © GD Corporate Photography

Baker’s first composition for the band is Turmoil which begins with dense guitar, and a King Crimson sense of impending doom, with unsettling fuzz bass from Baker and an angular melody from Travis on sax. The track barely holds itself together, but virtuosic drumming from Sirkis just about keeps this superb song from falling part: a nightmarishly delicious vision that perfectly matches its title.

The bulk of the composing duties fall to Travis, who contributes nearly half of the tracks. He describes Open Road as a ‘rocky track’ which fits his philosophy that melody is important. Like Lemon Poem Song, this track features an emotive chord sequence that underpins Travis’ long-limbed earworm of a melody. The sax solo is reminiscent of the work of the great Dick Parry, most famous for his work with Pink Floyd. Etheridge’s guitar solo has something of the feel of David Gilmour but with added intricacy. Fans of progressive rock will be pleased to note that the Mellotron is not just any Mellotron; this is Steven Wilson’s Mellotron. As Travis recounted to Sid Smith in Prog, Wilson let him use his Mellotron in return for Travis guesting at Wilson’s 2025 show at the Palladium.

The centrepiece of the album is Travis’ composition The Longest Night, which Smith describes in his sleeve notes as ‘prog-leaning’, perhaps because of its 13-minute length. This is an epic in King Crimson mode, which casts back to long-form, contemplative instrumentals from albums like Lark’s Tongue in Aspic (1973) and Starless and Bible Black (1974). There’s a lovely moment late in the track which is reminiscent of Ian Anderson’s flute playing, with a King Crimson bass line creeping up underneath. But this isn’t prog rock pastiche. Pete Whittaker provides some excellent work on organ, and Sirkis’ drumming is simply stunning. Travis provides pleasingly melodic sax lines. Etheridge played his extended solo live in the studio, worried afterwards that it was too long. Travis told Smith,

‘I don’t think [Etheridge] would mind me saying that he regards this as his best solo moment, and he’s made a lot of records over the years.’

The album ends with Daevid’s Special Cuppa, another tribute to a founder member of Soft Machine. Travis worked with Daevid Allen, who last played with the band in 1967, as a member of Gong from 1999 to 2009, and in 2001 he recorded Allen playing ‘glissando guitar’ in the studio. Travis has written a gorgeous song around Allen’s shimmering guitar, featuring the evocative sound of the duduk, an Armenian traditional instrument which he played on Aeolus: one hour duduk meditation, another collaboration with Wilson. The track ends with Allen’s ghostly guitar rising into the ether, coming full circle 60 years later.

Performers

John Etheridge Electric guitar
Theo Travis Tenor and soprano saxes, flute, alto flute, Fender Rhodes piano, electronics, piano (track 1), Mellotron, Electronics
Fred Thelonious Baker Fretless bass guitar
Asaf Sirkis Drums and percussion, piano (track 6)

Daevid Allen (recorded in 2001) glissando guitar (track 13)
Pete Whittaker Organ (tracks 2,5), Fender Rhodes piano (track 2)
Nick Utteridge Gong (track 5)

Tracks
1 Lemon Poem Song (Sirkis) (3.27)
2 Open Road (Travis) (7.30)
3 Seven Hours (Travis) (5.12)
4 Waltz for Robert (Travis) (4.19)
5 The Longest Night (Travis) (13.08)
6 Disappear (Sirkis) (3.55)
7 Green Books (Etheridge) (5.46)
8 Beledo Balado (Etheridge) (4.32)
9 Pens To The Foal Mode (Baker, Etheridge, Sirkis, Travis) (2.42)
10 Time Station (Travis) (2.46)
11 Which Bridge Did You Cross (Travis) (2.49)
12 Turmoil (Baker) (5.30)
13 Daevid’s Special Cuppa (Travis) (3.10)

Thirteen is released on Dyad Records through Proper on Friday 13 March. Soft Machine’s 32-date tour begins in Coventry on Thursday 12 March.

Read on…

Theo Travis plays on Steven Wilson’s Overview Tour…

Steven Wilson – The Overview Tour – Live Review

Theo Travis at Prog the Forest 2024

Prog the Forest 2024 – Live Review

More jazz/rock/fusion…

Shez Raja

Shez Raja – Live Review
Off the Beaten Track # 15: Spellbound by Shez Raja – Album Review
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Shez Raja – Live Review

Friday 18 July 2025

Future Yard Birkenhead

*****

Guthrie Govan Joins Shez Raja for Triumphant Birkenhead Show

Shez Raja (and Chris Jerome, back left)

This was a triumphant homecoming gig for bass player Shez Raja, returning to his native Birkenhead. Raja announced that he was born on the Wirral; it felt like a home audience – his parents and some of his school friends were there in the capacity crowd.

Afterwards, a relieved Raja revealed that disaster almost struck before the gig. He was being interviewed when he felt a wasp behind his ear. He flicked it away, and the wasp, obviously part of the anti-joy police, decided to sting him on his fretting hand (the left). Playing bass with a swollen index finger would have been difficult. Fortunately, his resourceful interviewer supplied antihistamines and ice, and the disaster was averted.

Guthrie Gova (left) and Shez Raja

Raja launched the first set with three cuts from his new album, Spellbound. The lineup on Friday was very different from that of the album itself, as all ’37 guest musicians’ on the album (as Raja later quipped) couldn’t come. This meant that some of the songs from the album had less of an Indian feel – there was no sitar, tabla, sarangi, or bansuri. Instead, Raja was backed by a superb rock/jazz band, with the legendary Guthrie Govan on guitar, Chris Jerome on keyboards and Adam Texeira (a new addition to the Raja fold) on drums.

Govan played guitar on three Steven Wilson albums, including Hand. Cannot. Erase. (2015), and it was good to see an audience member wearing a t-shirt with the album cover on it (this year marks the tenth anniversary of the album. Govan’s playing throughout the evening was astonishing. Govan himself often looked mildly surprised as he looked down at the incredible dexterity of his quicksilver fingers as he created a continuous flow of joy. But he also brought delicate ornamentation to one of the highlights of the first set, ‘Together We Fly’ from the new album. There was some gorgeous duetting from Govan and Raja in this song, with Raja playing the lovely melody that Fiza Haider sings on the album version. The two musicians shared a smile as they headed towards the contemplative ending of the song.

Raja, a genial host, explained that there are three different versions of Spellbound (cue rising chords from Jerome on keyboards to increase the sense of anticipation). Raja showed us the vinyl version (which sold out during the interval), the CD version, then the download, which he illustrated with a wave of the hand. He said if we liked the live versions of the new songs, we should buy the album; if we didn’t like the new ones, the album versions are better! To illustrate the point, the live version of the title track was heavier than on the album, with uplifting, virtuosic guitar and bass, and a thundering drum solo from Adam Texeira, which left the audience transfixed.

Raja did take us on a brief tour of the Punjab, with ‘Maharaja’ from 2021’s appropriately named Tales From the Punjab, inspired by his visit to the Punjab the previous year to explore his cultural roots. Govan provided Indian-style improvisations, and there was fantastic keyboard work from Jerome, syncopated chords with a lively instrumental commentary from Raja and Goven, which led to a flowing keyboard solo that drew warm applause.

The final song of the first set was ‘our craziest tune’, a stunning version of ‘Get Cosmic’, from Journey to Shambhala (2019), which Raja promised us would suck us into a black hole and out the other side. Reader, it did. The song began with eerie psychedelic noises, then an invigorating bass and guitar riff in perfect unison. There was a lovely spacey section, over which Govan’s solo was thrilling, giving the audience no time to breathe. The perfectly controlled madness of the song brought the first set to a euphoric end.

The bar had been set very high by the first set, but the second set was even better. It began withan ecstatic version of ‘Chakras on the Wall’, in which the band traded four-bar phrases which became increasingly extreme, making the audience smile. There were some cheeky moments when the four musicians quoted riffs from famous rock songs. Raja quipped that the bands might sue; an audience member replied, ‘We won’t tell anyone!’ ‘Vishnu’ from the new album ‘brought the Punjab to Birkenhead.’ This was completely different from the album version. It began with raucous drums, the kick drum providing visceral support for the syncopated, upbeat opening tune. A pensive breakdown section brought a quicksilver bass solo from Raja at the top of the fretboard. Govan played a bluesy solo with string bends and some tapping, making it all sound very easy. There was a break from all the structured jazz/rock mayhem with ‘Song for John’, a beautiful ballad written for Shez’s newborn son 14 years ago. This featured a mellow, emotional bassline played with superb legato by Raja, with a fretless bass sound reminiscent of the great Jaco Pastorius. There was a lovely repeated phrase, with a yearning interval the second time around, expressing Raja’s parental joy.

Raja quoted a review in Jazzwise magazine of the next song, ‘Quiverwish’, which apparently said it began with some Mark King-style slap bass but ‘it soon subsided.’ NickHolmesMusic enjoys a bit of slap bass, so that wasn’t a problem.This was a seriously funky track, with a Moog-like synth solo from Jerome with some evocative pitch-bends and another drum solo from Texeira, sounding like a complete percussion section on his own. According to the setlist, the band was due to play ‘My Imaginary Friend’ next, but in his excitement, Raja left it out, so we were left to imagine what his friend was like. Instead, for the encore, Raja asked us whether ‘anyone liked African music… well, we’re going to play an Eastern European folk tune.’ Before we had time to register our disappointment (although NickHolmesMusic does enjoy a bit of Eastern European folk music…), the band launched into ‘Freedom’, in which Govan introduced some African-style guitar playing, showing how versatile he is. By now, the audience was dancing and the joint was jumping. A joyful ending to an excellent evening.

Personnel

Shez Raja bass
Guthrie Govan guitar
Adam Texeira drums
Chris Jerome keyboards

For a review of Shez Raja’s new album Spellbound click here

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Off the Beaten Track # 15: Spellbound by Shez Raja – Album Review

The Cover of Spellboud by Shez Raja
The Cover of Spellbound by Shez Raja
The Cover of Spellbound by Shez Raja

British-Asian bass player Shez Raja has been voted one of the ‘Hottest Bass Players in the World’ by readers of Bass Player magazine. His mother is Asian, and his father is English. He began playing the violin at nine years old, then replaced that instrument with the bass guitar a few years later. He travelled with his father to the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, where he learned to play tabla. His background is similar to that of the musical polymath Nitin Sawhney, who was born in Rochester, Kent to Punjabi immigrant parents. Both musicians successfully blend East with West in their music.

Shez Raja
Shez Raja

Raja has just released his eighth solo album, Spellbound, in a genre which has been described as Indo-jazz-funk. He is joined by an eclectic mix of virtuoso jazz and (prog) rock musicians including guitarists John Etheridge (Soft Machine) and Guthrie Govan (the Aristocrats, Asia, Hans Zimmer, Steven Wilson), drummers Dennis Chambers, Jamie Murray and Sophie Alloway, and saxophonists Vasilis Xenopoulos and Tony Kofi. He is also joined by traditional Indian instrumentalists Gurdain Rayatt on tabla, Roopa Panesar on sitar, Ashan Papu on bansuri (bamboo flute) and Zahab Hassan on sarangi (a three-stringed bowed instrument).

‘I believe that the ultimate goal for a musician is to make music that is raw, real and from the heart, that moves and inspires people’

Shez Raja

Raja’s bass playing, on a custom-made Fodera, is superb throughout the album. His lower notes sometimes bring to mind the great Jah Wobble (Public Image Limited), the bass lines prowling around in almost dub style. Above this, he sometimes plays ornamental lines towards the top of the fretboard and makes imaginative use of effects pedals. The album is recorded in pristine quality, in audiophile sound (the review copy was available in high definition). For that reason, it’s only available on CD and vinyl, and as a download, rather than on streaming services that may degrade audio quality.

The opening track, Quantum Spirits, is infectiously joyful jazz-funk with deliciously spiky guitar. Mahirishi mindtrip begins with a drum flourish and then throws itself into a groove with an Indian flavour from the sarangi and a spacious, bluesy feel. The title track has a lovely running saxophone line and a gloriously syncopated main riff. The drumming is stunning, and nicely balanced with percussion from the tabla. Together we fly is an evocative, gently aspirational ballad with melismatic vocals from Fiza Haider, which become more Indian in style as the track progresses, with a yearning sitar solo and subtly offbeat drumming. Lucid path to the golden lotus is the only track to feature bansuri, which sounds at first like the flute playing of the late, great Barbara Thompson, then becomes more Indian in style near the end with a weeping sound that is so characteristic of the instrument, but there’s also a hint of Moog-style soloing. Vishnu is a life-affirming track, with blistering, joyfully dystopian guitar, and an evocative breakdown section with a moving call and response section. Through the multiverse features cascading sitar and an infectious bass part. Our journey takes us into darker parts of the multiverse; we head into King Crimson territory, where everything is darkly ambiguous, a fractured universe with an explosive saxophone solo.

Shez Raja live at Ronnie Scott's
Shez Raja live at Ronnie Scott’s

The album ends with two live tracks recorded at Pizza Express Live Soho in London. The first is a live version of the opening track, Quantum Spirits, with the raw, emotional and supremely virtuosic soloing of guitarist Guthrie Govan. The second is Rabbits, which builds to a stunning climax. Both tracks bode well for Raja’s forthcoming live performances.

Spellbound is out now via ShejRaza.com. Raja plays live at Future Yard, Wirral on 18 July, at Ronnie Scott’s on 17 September and at the 606 Club on 21 November.

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Perpetual Motions by Gavin Harrison and Antoine Fafard – Album Review

Cover of Perpetual Motions by Gavin Harrison and Antoine Fafard

Inventive musical explorations and collaborations from a virtuosic duo and friends

****

Cover of Perpetual Motions by Gavin Harrison and Antoine Fafard
The cover of Perpetual Mutations. Image by Galina Timofeeva. Graphics by Antoine Fafard.

In classical music, a concerto in which a soloist – such as a pianist or a violinist – performs with an orchestra, is a common form. Less common is the concerto for orchestra, although the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók did write a popular piece of that name, stating that it wasn’t a symphony but a series of soloistic, virtuosic sections for each part of the orchestra, in effect a series of concertos. Now Canadian bass player Antoine Fafard and English drummer Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, The Pineapple Thief, King Crimson) have created a similar concept, a series of nine pieces for jazz duo and a range of soloists who play soprano sax, cello, violin, oboe, Fender Rhodes and piano. The aim of their new album, Perpetual Motions is, ‘to stretch out artistic possibilities and contribute to expanding the musical spectrum.’

Antoine Fafard playing bass guitar
Antoine Fafard. Photo by Colin D Miller.

The duo’s previous album Chemical Reactions was also ground breaking, using string quartet and full orchestra with drums and bass guitar. The title of the new album describes the perpetual change of musical arrangement from one of Fafard’s compositions to the next, the only constant being the playing of Fafard and Harrison on every piece. Remarkably, Fafard presented Harrison with complete recordings to add drums and percussion later; Harrison’s playing perfectly matches the pieces so it’s impossible to tell that his recordings were done separately. Harrison told Raffaella Mezzanzanica of MusicalMind that,

“Having a studio at home means you can do one take or a hundred takes…Sometimes it takes me two days to record a song, but when I listen to it later, I might decide to do it all again. That is the luxury (and curse) of working on your own in your own studio.”

Gavin Harrison playing drums
Gavin Harrison

1 Dark Wind

The opening track begins with a fiercely rhythmic bass line, and big band brass, giving the track a similar feel to Harrison’s 2015 album Cheating the Polygraph, a reimagining of the work of Porcupine Tree for big band. Melodic soprano sax soon takes on virtuosic runs, with aspirational rising chords. There’s an evocative breakdown section with a trombone solo. The piece is often in 5/4, but the rhythmic patterns constantly change. A stunning start to the album.

2 Deadpan Euphoria

The ‘deadpan’ of the title presumably refers to the handpan drums on the track, which create a sound like steel drums. There are also log drums, long cylindrical pieces of wood, hollowed out with slits on the top. Fafard provides lovely, melodic fretless bass which entwines the long sustained notes of the cello – an unusual but very effective combination. The bass guitar drops lower as a liquid, free-flowing guitar surrounds the cello. A lovely track.

3 Viral Information 101

Like the opening track, this begins with a fierce, repeated bass note. Acoustic guitar flourishes with subtle marimba are followed by a folky violin solo. There’s a sudden, romantic slow section with melodic violin that would make excellent film music. The song ends with a gorgeous fretless bass run and exhilaratingly thunderous drums.

Gavin Harrison and Antoine Fafard – Objective Reality (2024)

4 Objective Reality

An unusual song, built around bass guitar harmonics, the same short phrase repeated at different pitches. Above the angular, geometric shapes of the urgently rhythmic backing track a sweet-toned oboe flows like liquid honey, adding vitality and humanity. The track ends with Harrison’s superb percussion runs. An intriguing track.

5 Quiescent II

This short, mellow track features a sprinkling of jazzy Fender Rhodes, and highlights Harrison’s relaxed, loose-limbed drumming which contrasts with his more energetic playing elsewhere on the album. Again, Fafard provides some inspiring fretless bass. The song builds to a climax with rhythmic chords and an insistent theme. A good contrast to other songs on the album.

6 Spontaneous Plan

This song begins with spontaneous piano flourishes, with big band brass that could have come from a John Barry score for a James Bond movie. The piano becomes jazzier and more freestyle as the track progresses. It ends with a joyful burst of brass. The song is energetic and lively, constantly changing and evolving, perfectly expressing the perpetual motion of the album’s title.

7 Pentalogic Structure

Another showcase for the cello, which plays a mysterious melody at the start with gentle guitar, before a chaotic repeated theme surrounds the cello which resolutely continues to plough its own furrow. Fafard told Raffaella Mezzanzanica that he wrote most of the songs on guitar, and this track features a fast-flowing, classical guitar solo which combines virtuosity with a sense of optimism. As the track comes to an end, the cello returns with a slow, angular melody which casts a shadow on the hopefulness of the guitar solo.

8 Solus Souls II

Laid-back piano chords are joined by a searching bass line. Again, as throughout the record, Harrison’s playing is a joy to hear. His subtle, spacey percussion leads to tom tom rolls that gain energy as the track becomes more complex and syncopated.

9 Safety Meeting

Piano chords and more big band brass chords rouse themselves, perhaps to illustrate a meeting of safety officers. Again, a highlight is Fafard’s elegant classical guitar playing, sometimes reminiscent here of another guitar virtuoso, Steve Howe of Yes. He follows this with a limpid bass guitar solo with gentle piano chords. This constantly changing song ends with jazzy piano chords and swelling brass, ending an excellent, varied collection of songs from two superb musicians and a range of performers from across the world.

Personnel

Gavin Harrison: Drums and Marimba
Antoine Fafard: Electric Bass and Classical Guitar
Jean-Pierre Zanella: Soprano Saxophone on track 1
Dale Devoe: Trombones and Trumpets on tracks 1, 6 and 9
Joasia Cieslak: Cello on track 2
Isodora Filipovic: Cello on track 7
Reinaldo Ocando: Marimba and Vibraphone on track 3
Pier Luigi Salami: Piano and Rhodes – Piano on tracks 6, 8, 9; Rhodes on track 5
Tadeusz Palosz: Handpans and Log Drum on track 2
Ally Storch: Violin on track 3
Rodrigo Escalona: Oboe on track 4

Sources

Mezzanzanica, R. Antoine Fafard unveils some “secrets” behind “Perpetual Mutations”, his new album with Gavin Harrison (MusicalMind 16 May 2024)

Mezzanzanica, R. Gavin Harrison talks about “Perpetual Mutations”, how to keep his balance and his view on the future of Porcupine Tree and King Crimson (MusicalMind 27 May 2024)

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Fragments by Trifecta – Album Review

*****

New Prog supergroup bring joy in fragmented times

Drummer Craig Blundell, keyboard player Adam Holzman and bass player Nick Beggs began playing together on Steven Wilson’s Hand. Cannot. Erase tour in 2015. They also joined Steven on his To the Bone tour in 2018 and 2019. When Steven went off for a cup of tea after a brief soundcheck, the three others would remain on stage to jam together, creating what they described as a ‘jazz club’. They recorded each other on their phones as they played, and decided to use these recordings as the basis of some of the songs for the new Trifecta project. The result is a version of jazz rock fusion, almost entirely instrumental, in a style described by Nick Beggs as ‘Fission! It’s like Fusion but less efficient and more dangerous … with fall out.’ The outcome is an explosion of joyful, melodic virtuosity.

Beggs and Holzman were due to tour with Steven Wilson again but tours due in 2020 and again in 2021 were cancelled due to Covid-19. Like many artists, the three members of Trifecta collaborated remotely during lockdown – Beggs and Blundell in England and Holzman in New York. But whereas the work of another Steven Wilson alumnus Richard Barbieri Under a Spell described darkly trouble dreams in lockdown, Trifecta cast a genial spell on tracks that they each completed at home before Holzman mixed the heady brew in his home studio. Further magic was sprinkled by expert mastering engineer Andy VanDette (who also worked on some of the Porcupine Tree albums). The light-hearted nature of the collaboration is shown by some of the tiles of the 15 ‘fragments’ that make up the album, such as ‘Clean Up On Aisle Five’ and ‘Nightmare In Shining Armour’. But don’t let that distract you from the serious levels of musicianship on display here.

Nick Beggs’ dry humour is evident on the only track that features vocals, the gently enticing Pavlov’s Dog Killed Schrodinger’s Cat, the lyrics of which he describes as ‘written from the perspective of a layman trying to understand quantum mechanics … and failing’. They include such memorable lines as ‘Wrestled to the ground by your quantum theory/ I’ve listened to your talk until my eyes grew weary’.

Despite the consistently high level of inventiveness and virtuosity shown by all three players, planting them firmly in prog rock territory, none of the songs are prog epics in terms of length; all of the 15 tracks are beautifully-crafted miniatures of around 3 minutes. The whole album is only 45 minutes long. Steven Wilson has recently called for a return to the shorter-form album, and his latest release The Future Bites lasts 42 minutes.

Opening track Clean Up On Aisle Five with its swirling keyboards, strong melody and powerful drumming is reminiscent of another prog rock supergroup, U.K. (John Wetton, Bill Bruford, Eddie Jobson and Alan Holdsworth) on their track ‘In the Dead of Night’, although without the impassioned vocals.

Other highlights include Proto Molecule with its amazingly funky bassline – worthy of Jaco Pastorius – evocative keyboard lines, syncopated jazz-funk riffing, and a delightful interplay between both instruments. There is more Jaco-style bass at the start of Nightmare in Shining Armor.

The Enigma of Mr Fripp cheerfully acknowledges its debt to Robert Fripp of King Crimson. It encapsulates all that is great about that band in less than three minutes. Nick Beggs plays Chapman Stick with Fripp-like intensity, the lines spiralling around each other. There are dystopian drums, sudden key changes, warm mellotron washes and rhythmic illusions. A complete King Crimson album in miniature. The track suddenly stops, delightfully segueing into the ultra-cool jazz keyboards of the next track Sally Doo-Dally.

Have You Seen What the Neighbours are Doing refers to the house next to Adam Holzman’s in the North Bronx, left empty when the man living there disappeared. It could easily have come from the soundtrack to a 1970s movie like Shaft. It begins with a disturbing film-noir scenario, with a looping funky bassline and luminous synths. There’s dirty distortion on the Fender Rhodes-like solo, adding to the sleaze. Holzman uses a similar sound on his recent live album The Last Gig.

The whole album is an unexpected lockdown delight that reveals its deep treasures with repeated listening. Two important questions remain. Are Trifecta working on new material, and will they ever tour? Hopefully the answer to both questions is yes!